Interests of a developer, area residents and city administration continue to collide, and a proposed subdivision is at the center of the chaos.

All present members of the Russellville Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday — with one member, Eric Westcott, absent — to approve a preliminary plat for Overland Park subdivision under the condition a third access road be added to the plans. A representative from Barrett & Associates, the architectural firm representing the developer, said the decision will be appealed to the City Council.

Overland Park is a proposed 80-plus unit development in southwest Russellville. It is bordered by Brookside Estates to the north, Camelot Village to the west and West 12th Street to the south.

In the original plans submitted by the developer, the subdivision would have two access points: one on West 12th Street and another on South Durant Avenue. The Planning Commission's decision requires a third access point to connect the subdivision to an existing stub on Camelot Drive.

This week's action is the most recent installment in a saga that began in September, when the Overland Park plat first came before the Planning Commission. At that meeting, a motion to approve the plat with the added connection to Camelot, as well as an underground storm drainage system, failed to garner enough votes to pass. Only five commissioners were present at that meeting.

Commissioners considered the matter again in October, this time with all commissioners present. A motion was passed unanimously to accept the proposal with the condition a stub be extended to Camelot Drive. That decision was appealed to the City Council by the developer.

Aldermen considered the issue at their November meeting, where an alternate proposal was presented to them. The alternate proposal would include two entrances onto West 12th Street and pedestrian connections to Camelot and South Durant. All present members of the council voted to send the new proposal to the Planning Commission for its consideration.

Throughout the process, the developer and neighboring residents have clashed with city staff on how the street connections should be handled. Both the developer and neighbors have resisted added connections, and many nearby residents have spoken out against any connections into their neighborhood.

The new proposal with two street connections to West 12th Street was intended to be a solution to the neighbors' concerns. Conversely, city staff have continued to push for three connections at various points throughout the subdivision, citing the city's grid street pattern and connectivity issues.

"(T)wo ingress/egress routes likely will handle the additional traffic created by 83 residences," City Planner David Harris stated in his staff report. "However, a well-connected street system provides alternative route choices and reduces the potential for certain streets to handle inordinately high traffic volumes simply because no other routing options are available."

Prior to making a motion to accept the plat with three proposed connections, Commissioner Mike Wilkins said the Planning Commission was obligated to act in the best interest of the city as a whole.

If the developer appeals the commission's decision to the City Council as expected, the matter will appear on that body's January agenda.